And Now We Wait
by Jounetsu-no-Hana
Summary: Gippal pays a visit to Rikku while she's in a coma.
1. Hello

**I was sad when I wrote this. I had just been thinking about what would happen if I was in a coma. And then I wondered what **_**Gippal**_** would do if **_**Rikku**_** was in a coma. And then I was like, "That's it; let your fear out into a fic!" So, I didn't **_**enjoy**_** writing this, it's sad, but it's a thirteen year old girl's version on sad.**

He picked up her hand timidly and held it tightly. It was as cold as ice. He watched her face closely, studying every detail, because for once it looked completely peaceful. There was no look of being overexcited or sad. She just looked like she was sleeping. It was hard to believe that only a week ago she had stood in front of him. He had the chance to speak to her when there was a life inside of her. When there was that spark. He reached out with the hand that wasn't holding hers and brushed away her bangs.

"Rikku? Rikku, I know you can hear me, even though it's hard. I miss you, and I hope you'll come back soon. It's lonely, you know? Not having anyone to pick on and everything." He laughed to himself a bit. "I'm only joking. But I, uh… I never got to tell you some things. And I won't be able to if you don't come back. I mean… I could say it now… it might spare me a nice smack in the face or for you to break out in tears. And don't try to tell me you wouldn't! I know how girls are… ah, shit, I'm talking to a sleeping person now.

"Well… I guess I should tell you now. Maybe it'll give you a reason to come back, right? Well… I still… I still love you Rikku. And I don't know what I'll do if you don't wake up. Because, if I know that you died and I never told you, then it's the Farplane for me. But you know, then we can be together again, right? I know you wouldn't want me to but... Paine told me that she knew someone like this once. She said that… talking to them might help both ends. And for me it's only making me feel like I'm gonna choke." He squeezed her hand tightly as he closed his eyes. This was the first time he had seen her in the coma. He hadn't believed anyone when they had told him what happened. Machina's had blown up on her before, right? She should've made it… but what went wrong? "I just wish you could talk back. It feels like such a long time ago…"

There was a click behind him and he turned around. Yuna stood there, holding onto the doorknob.

"Hi." She said. Her voice wasn't happy. But it wasn't sad either. Gippal just gave her a dull smile and turned back to Rikku, squeezing her hand as tightly as he could.

"Come on… I know you can feel. Slap me… do something…" he muttered, shaking her hand back and forth. She continued her steady breathing, her eyes twitching every once in awhile.

"She won't wake up." Yuna said quietly, sitting beside Rikku's bed on the opposite end of Gippal.

"Why aren't you sad?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Rikku's. If she woke up, he wanted to be the first to know. He didn't want to be the last again.

"_Don't_ say I'm not sad." She said, her eyes flaring suddenly. "I'm just… I already know how to put up that wall to stop the hurt. I had to make it when I became a summoner. To keep the sad remarks out. Keep the hopeful ones in. Rikku was there with me. She always wanted to do something. It kills me right now to know that I want to help her this time… but I can't do anything." She said. Gippal took in a sharp breath. _I gotta get it together_ he told himself, shaking the needles that pricked at his eyes away.

"Well… I guess Rikku felt the same. You know, it was known _then_ that you were going to die, and she knew that there wasn't anything that she could do about it. She knew that whatever she said… it was still the end. You still were only days away from… from Zanarkand." Gippal said. Somehow, he had a feeling he knew how Rikku felt. Yuna nodded from the other end. Gippal watched Rikku carefully. He seemed to believe if he watched her long enough, she would wake up. She would smile at him and put her hand on his cheek, being glad it was him to welcome her back. But it never happened. He watched her for what seemed to stretch into eternity, Yuna glancing up at him occasionally.

"Gippal?" His head shook as he came out of his daze, and he slowly averted his gaze to Yuna. Her eyes seemed to glisten. "Do you love her?" she asked. He only stared at Yuna for a moment, and then looked at Rikku. It finally happened. His vision blurred, and he squeezed his eyes shut, begging the tears to go back to where they had come from. He pulled her hand against his chest and nodded quickly. The motion made the two small tears coming to his eyes slip, and they ran down his face and off his chin, landing on her hand. Her hand reacted slightly, closing as though he had pinched her palm. He looked up, but all her could see was the blankness of her face, no sign of being different. He sighed and looked at her hand, wiping the tears from it, and then wiping them from his own face. He looked up timidly at Yuna. To his dismay, she was smiling at him.

"Yes… I'm sure she'll be just fine." She said, picking up the hand that Gippal wasn't holding onto and kissing it swiftly before standing up and leaving the room. Gippal watched the door blankly, and then turned his gaze to Rikku. He could feel his own lips curling into a smile that looked more like a cringe.

"Yeah… I think she will too." He placed her hand back where it had been, then leaned over, kissing her lightly on the cheek. "Wake up soon, 'kay? I got some new machina to show you." He said, turning towards the door and opening it quietly. He took one last look at her before strolling down through the hallway. _And now we wait._


	2. She's a Vegetable!

**All right, all right! Because I love you all and Rikku, I decided to add on to this one. Even though I was gonna leave it as it was… Oh well. This could be fun. Aishiteru!**

Gippal walked down the hallway briskly. It had been a month, so he had memorized Rikku's room from his frequent visits. When he got there, he casually went to the chair and sat in it, the wheels on it causing him to slide away from the bed. He waited, and then scooted back to the side of the bed. He looked at Rikku's face as the breathing mask fogged, and then became clear again in her steady breathing. He looked at the machine, which said 76. He frowned. It had said 82 yesterday. He pointed to the machine.

"Is that bad?" he asked Rikku's sleeping figure. She remained motionless, though he enjoyed imagining a smile flickering across her face, too swift for him to see. He turned back to the machine and watched as the numbers flickered from 76 to 72 and then to 74. He didn't understand this. It wasn't machina, so it didn't make sense. He fixed his gaze on Rikku, and then felt a sudden impulse. He reached out and touched her eyelid gently, then started to pull it back. He could see her emerald eye just barely as it rolled towards the top of her head. He let her eyelid slump back down to meet the lower one and sat watching her, wondering how much long he could take of her being like this.

He didn't know what the numbers meant, but he knew that they being lower wasn't a good thing. Having more was always better. He spun around in the chair once, exhaling deeply, and then stopped abruptly, his elbows resting on the side of her bed.

"Riiikku…" he poked her cheek. He knew that this was _probably_ not a good thing to do, but he was running out of ideas. "Wakey wakey… Look a flying— er—_monkey_! No? Hm, okay lets try something else then." He said, his mood swiftly falling. "Wake up… p-_please_?" he asked, giving a _dazzling_ smile. She seemed to stare at him, though not _at_ him, saying "Nope. Try again."

"Uh, I'll make you a cake! I'll buy you a chocobo! I'll buy you _Luca_! Promise!" he took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I promise I'll get you out of this thing. Let's see… I'll uh… buy you your very own pet _Vegnagun_! You know, they're actually really quite nice when they don't have that… that cannon thing." He said, sighing before he finished the sentence. "How about a flan? You know, what better than your very own… pet… fire flan? Huh? _Huh_?" He sighed in dramatic defeat. "Just tell me this, am I the only one doing this, or are other people making promises to you that you are most definitely going to remember when you wake up?" Her eyebrows knitted together in a sort of confused look. Or was it pain? Or maybe fear? He couldn't tell, but he much preferred her sleeping face. He put his hand against her cheek and she seemed to immediately relax. He looked over at the machine. It now said 68. He stood up quickly and went outside. He found a nurse down the hall at brought her to the room at a half trot. He pointed to the machine.

"What do these numbers mean?" he asked.

"It's her heart rate. This poor dear was at 89 last night. I'm not so sure she's going to wake up. I'm sorry." She said, giving him a sad smile and turning away through the door. Apparently she was very practiced at appearing sorry for people. Gippal looked back at Rikku breathlessly and then sat down on the small chair, taking her hand in his again.

"Don't worry. I don't believe her. I know you can get through this. You're just feeling very… relaxed." He said. He let go of her hand. "You know I would be kissing you goodbye every day, but I can't take that breathing mask off of you. " he heard the door open.

"Sir? I'm sorry, but the doctors would like to do some tests on her. I'm afraid you have to go now." A nurse said. Gippal looked down at Rikku, and then at the nurse.

"She's gonna come out of this, isn't she?" he asked.

"Let me see… slow heart rate… how was she put into the coma?" she asked.

"Machina… it—blew up." Gippal said, taking his time to answer. She wasn't answering _his_ question.

"I'm suspecting something happened to her head then." _Suspecting?_ Gippal snapped to himself. "Most people who suffer injuries to the head do not come out of the vegetative state."

"She's a _vegetable_?" Gippal asked, his voice cracking halfway through. The nurse laughed, only making Gippal's temper flare suddenly.

"No! Not now. But you know, stranger things have happened. A man came out of a coma after being in one for sixteen years! Of course he was never quite the same…" She looked up to see Gippal's distraught face, his mouth hanging in a gape of how easily she was telling him all this. "Oh, don't worry dear! I'm sure she'll be alright!" she said. Gippal nodded, his face still flushed.

"Y-yeah." He walked over to her bed and leaned over, kissing her swiftly on the cheek. "See ya Rikku." He said, leaving with the nurse. _She's gonna wake up. A month's not that long. I mean sixteen years! That's… twenty something months more! She's gonna wake up._


	3. You Are My Sunshine

Gippal sat once again on the chair and spun around, staring at the ceiling. He stopped and looked at Rikku.

"I know, okay? I'm trying! Calm down." he said. "Shit, I'm going insane! What's the point of talking to you, right? I mean, you're not going to answer, and I know that I'm just going to have to clamp your mouth shut when you wake up so you'll stop reminding me that I promised I'd build you a new Vegnagun. C'mon, can't you wake up on our own? One and a half months! You've got a month and a half left to wake up before they… do the thing with a plug. What'd they call it? Oh well. Please?" she remained motionless. To his relief, her heart rate had gone back to 75 in the past week. He groaned as he started spin around in the chair again. The door opened and closed. He didn't even glance over. He wanted to get dizzy. Maybe he'd get to faint, and Rikku would come to him in a dream.

"Is this _all_ you do when you're here?" Yuna asked, sitting across from him. He had gotten used to her visits at the same time as his. Except, she was the only one that came when he did. He stopped and shook his head at the ceiling.

"I talk to her. Tell her things that I won't be able to do for her when she wakes up. You know. Stuff like that." He said. Yuna nodded and looked at Rikku. Gippal looked up at her face, and it sparkled. He looked closely and saw that she was crying. "Hey! I-I didn't mean… what ever I said wrong!" Yuna shook her head with a smile.

"No it's not that! It's just… I'm so afraid that she won't wake up." She looked up at him. "Are you alright? Your eyes are all bloodshot."

"Are they?" Gippal asked, rubbing them with his eye closed. He hadn't gotten much sleep, seeing as he had to make up for the time he spent at the hospital.

"Are you worried about her?" Yuna asked. Gippal shook his head.

"Not really. Kind of, but not much. I believe in her." He said. Yuna grinned.

"You really _do_ love her!" she exclaimed.

"You didn't believe me?"

"No, not really." Yuna said with a broad and innocent smile. Gippal just sighed and took Rikku's hand. Somehow, he had a feeling holding her hand could help her hear him more. But then again, he wasn't exactly in his right mind at the moment.

"Come on… I'll buy you a jewel mine?"

"This is what you talk to her about? You _bribe_ her?" Yuna asked. She sounded absolutely scandalized. Gippal just shrugged.

"She likes bribes." Yuna just huffed and turned away form him, staring at the get well cards assortment on the windowsill. She stood up and looked at them all.

"There's not one from you here." She stated. Gippal shrugged again.

"Why would she need a card to know that I'm thinking about her?" Yuna stayed silent, then took a card from the windowsill and read it. She put it down and then scuttled to the chair, looking at Gippal with eyes that seemed to burn into his forehead. Gippal avoided her eyes. He wasn't quite sure why she was looking at him like that, but he wasn't too keen about it. Suddenly, the door opened. An old nurse stepped in.

"Oh. Excuse me. I just have to…" she took a cart over and started pressing buttons on the machine. She then reached over to Rikku and pulled off her breathing mask. Gippal stared for a moment, and then looked at the nurse.

"B-but…" he sputtered. The nurse just smiled at him.

"She can breathe on her own. You're in luck! It's nice to see you here so often Gippal." She said, putting a hand on his shoulder before leaving with the mask and respirator. Yuna looked at Gippal with a grin.

"You must come here _a lot_." She stated. He shrugged and nodded. He felt ecstatic that Rikku's breathing mask was off, but nervous at the same time. Were they _sure_ she could breathe on her own? What if they just condemned her to death? He shivered and ran his fingers lightly through her hair. He wanted to kiss her, but he felt like a chocobo in front of a hover. He just couldn't move. His limbs wouldn't work. They couldn't bend down to touch his lips to hers.

"Gippal? Is something wrong?" He hadn't realized he had been cringing from the attack on his limbs by his will. He immediately pulled a face that was supposed to be a smile, but made him look more insane than happy.

"No!" he said. He couldn't kiss Rikku if Yuna was there. She smiled crookedly at him and stood up.

"Well, I'd better go. Try to get some sleep okay? You look terrible." She said, turning the doorknob and leaving quickly. He sighed and looked back at Rikku. _Now's your chance. Go… go… _go_…! _He finally leaned over and pressed his lips lightly to Rikku's. They were soft despite the fact that she had been doing nothing for over a month. He pulled away from her and stroked a lock of hair away from her face.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He said, his hand lingering on her face for a moment before he turned away and left.

The next day, he sat in her room. _That's it… this has become an obsession._ He placed his elbow on the side of her bed and rested his chin on his palm, looking at all the cards. He must have dozed off, but suddenly, there was a sigh next to him. He turned to see green. Her eyes were open.

She looked at him dizzily. Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"Rikku!" he nearly shouted. He put out his hand to touch her face, but hesitated. Here, when she was awake, she didn't love him. Her lips mouthed out his name, and she reached out and touched her fingers to his. It took her a bit, because she hadn't worked her limbs in more than a month. Her fingers laced with his. She smiled at him.

"I dreamed you promised to build me Vegnagun." She said with a hoarse voice. He grinned back at her.

"What a… strange dream." He said nervously. Her smile suddenly dropped.

"I dreamed you kissed me…" she said, looking around. "Where… am I?" she asked, her voice starting to clear. Gippal chose to avoid her last statement of her 'dreams'.

"Hospital. You were in a coma." He said bluntly. He didn't really care anymore. She was awake, and he was the first to know! Her eyes widened.

"You're kidding…" she said. He shook his head. "For how long?"  
"A month and a half. A machina blew up on you." He said. She looked around. She still had a dazed expression on her face, but she seemed to be getting full consciousness back. She flexed her fingers and looked back at Gippal with a grin on her face.

"I'm awake!" she said, throwing her arms around him. "And you visited me so much! I remember! Thank you." She said. She went quiet for a moment and then whispered into his ear, "Did you mean it when you said you loved me?" she asked. He thought for a moment. _Admit it… or not?_ He slowly nodded. Rikku pulled away and kissed him swiftly on the cheek. She didn't say anything. But he would think about that later. He only wrapped his arms tight around her and put his face against her shoulder. _Awake… alive…_

_Epilogue_

Gippal stumbled forward as a tanned girl jumped on his back with a giggle.

"Hi there!" she said, slipping off his back as he turned around. He grinned at her. It had been two weeks since Rikku woke up. Those two weeks were fourteen days of much needed _sleep_ for Gippal. Rikku stood on her toes and kissed him lightly, slipping her hand into his. "So, you're taking a break today, and we're going to get something to eat." She said.

"Oh really?" he said, not putting up any resistance to her tugs.

"Yup! Let's go!" she said, letting go of his hand and running ahead of him. He walked forward slowly. Those two weeks were fourteen days of perfection. And it was only getting better.

…_Fin…_

**Happy ending! Of course! I hate sad endings. Maybe I should try one though… Hmm… Anyway, hope you enjoyed it! I had hoped to keep it as a oneshot, but then I guess it wasn't a story that was meant to be a oneshot. Anywayz, thanks for making me continue it! Sayonara and read my other Rippal fics!**


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